9% Rise In Self Employed Driving Rise In Employment

12.00.00am GMT Thu 4th Dec 2003

New statistics released today show that the 282,000 (9%) rise in self-Employment in the last 12 months accounts for most of the rise in total employment. This sharp rise reinforces the reversal of a trend that set in 1997 when the number of people self-employed began to fall. The number of self-employed workers now stands at 3.45 million, the highest level since the record high of 3.53 million in March-May 1990.

According to the ONS, while the number of employees rose 9,000 in the 12 months to September 2003 (24.481m to 24.490m), the number of self employed rose 282,000 (3.171m to 3.453m).

However, since 1997, 65,792 self-employed people have declared themselves bankrupt, 8854 in 2002. The number of business closures went up 5.3% between 2001 and 2002 while the number of enterprises being started rose by only 0.7%. Self employed bankruptcies make up 46% of all individual bankruptcies since 1997.

Malcolm Bruce MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow DTI Secretary, said: "We should welcome the fact that the entrepreneurial spirit is still alive and well in Britain, but it is unclear how many have been forced into self employment by redundancy and unemployment."

"But, with interest rates on the rise and personal debt at record levels these new businesses have a rocky road ahead. Businesses in their first few years of existence are at their most vulnerable, with 10% failing in the first year and 35% failing after three years. The Government should give these new entrepreneurs a decent break by giving them a red-tape holiday for the first few years of operation."